Crisis Informatics: Perspectives of Trust – Is Social Media a Mixed Blessing? by Dr. Chris Hagar

This paper highlights one of the key concerns in the emerging area of crisis informatics: issues of trusted information in crises/disasters and how the unregulated nature of social media affects information creation and dissemination. Deciding which information providers to trust and what sources of information to trust in crises is critical as acting upon trusted information can shape and influence the nature of the crisis. Social media is a powerful tool for sharing information during crises and can be used to improve emergency management capabilities, however, it has the power to misinform and to hinder response efforts.

Dr. Christine Hagar is an Assistant Professor at San Jose State University, School of Library and Information Science. Dr. Hagar holds a PhD in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.